Hey, it's that time of year again, Earth Hour is coming up! I love EH, last year I had a lovely party by candlelight, and much cheese was eaten. This year I'm very sad, I'll actually be at an unrelated Art event (I'm writing haiku on demand, scarily!), but be sure I will have unplugged everything before I leave. Mum and I were talking about doing Earth Day, where we try not to use electronics for the whole day, which would be fun.
And maybe I'll write some earth hour/environment related Haiku.
Earth Hour is spectacularly massive this year too, so many cities participating! So many people! Yay!
Anyway, here is the email I'll be sending around our department at uni to promote and expand on Earth Hour.
Vote Earth this Earth Hour!
Vote Earth by turning off your lights on March 28 at 8:30 pm, and joining hundreds of millions* of people around the globe, sending a powerful message to leaders around the world that we, as communities and nations, are ready to fight climate change!
And if you want to Vote Earth every day, here are two other easy steps you can take.
1. Sign up for the Qld Government’s Climate Smart Home Service
at http://www.climatesmart.qld.gov.au/or by calling 13 20 40
The ClimateSmart Home Service is specifically designed to help Queenslanders contribute to addressing climate change by reducing their carbon footprint.
During the ClimateSmart Home Service, a licensed electrician will visit your home, install a wireless energy monitor for you to keep, and conduct an energy audit of your home.
Where suitable, the electrician will supply and install a free water and energy efficient showerhead, and supply and install up to 15 free energy efficient light globes - all in less than an hour.
The service costs $50, but if you live in Brisbane there is a $50 rebate available from the Brisbane City Council.
2. Switch to GreenPower
Through your current energy provider you can switch to renewable energy, which is usually as easy as applying online, and costs as little as $4 dollars a month (for 25% GreenPower) up to about $22 a month extra (for 100% GreenPower).
GreenPower is electricity that comes from a new renewable energy generation source like solar or wind. Sources must have been built after 1997 to be accredited, encouraging continuing investment in Australias renewable energy.
Origin Energy -
http://www.originenergy.com.au/1544/Origin-GreenPower
Or call 13 GREEN
Thank you!
* Earth Hour organisers are hoping for 1 billion people in over 1500 cities to take part this year! http://www.earthhour.org/
As I have discovered on Twitter some of the "hardcore" environmentalists are NOT following Earth Hour. The reason is that they do not want people to assume that 1.) they can forgive a year of wasteful consumption by 1 hour of no power and 2.) that the future means we have to do without electricity (the future is dark). This has caused some concern for me. When I first heard about Earth Hour I thought it was a wonderful idea since it would force people to reflect on their level of consumption of power. I use a lot of electricity, my work is all on computers, our lab has a large computer cluster, I enjoy well written TV shows, etc. It made me personally think, do I need all of these things in my day? I really hope that all of my environmentally/climate oriented friends use Earth Hour as an opportunity to reflect on their daily commitment to living within their means (CO2 footprint wise) and how we can all work towards living in a less wasteful consumerist lifestyle. That is what it means to me personally. It's not a single day that washes us clean of our sins of consumerism. This should be a day where we reflect on what we truly need, and how we can make a difference every single minute of every single hour of every single day of the year
Posted by: m e h | March 24, 2009 at 08:09 AM
Hey Mark,
thanks for your thoughts, and I totally agree.
I've had some discussions with my enviro activist friends along the same lines, especially about the idea that people might think if they turn off the lights for one hour then they are doing enough for the earth, and business as usual can continue. And the association between taking action and giving things up (and sitting in the dark). These are worrying, when the movement is so huge. But I still come down on the side of Earth Hour, because hopefully it will a) get people talking, and get LOTS of people talking, setting up a social norm that this is an issue that needs action and there are lots of people doing it, climate action is the cool thing to do! and b) it will be fun, so move away from the idea that if you are taking action you are denying yourself the good things in life.
Because personally I think my life is much richer for me trying to think outside the box and find activities that are not energy intensive. Today, for instance, I am going to turn off my computer
and take my journal articles (printed on scrap paper from the office) into the garden and have a (vegetarian) picnic while I work (as well as no electricity, trying to trick myself into thinking it's fun to work on saturday!).
and see, it's already made you think, so it's having an effect! And I would think, even after the things you can do to make a difference - like getting workmates to turn off computers at night and things - your work is so important that you can justify needing a computer all day! With TV and things, I still daydream about turning my exercise bike into a pedal powered generator for the TV (though I'm not fit enough to produce much)- and I just try to only watch the shows I really like, and watch dvd's on my laptop instead of the big TV we have. Just finding little alternatives can really add up, I think.
so happy earth hour!
Posted by: Anna | March 28, 2009 at 10:50 AM